CORAL GABLES – As it was in many homes in South Florida, the Florida State-Clemson game was on the TV at the Wheeler residence in Hollywood on Saturday night.

Jared Wheeler, one of Kathy and Jim’s 10 children, couldn’t avoid it when he was home from college for the weekend. He watched the first half before turning his attention elsewhere.

“Pretty impressive,” he said. “It was a good game to watch.”

While the rest of the college football world elevated the Seminoles to national championship contender status after a blowout win at Clemson, Wheeler and his Hurricanes teammates tried to stay grounded. In two weeks, No. 7 Miami will visit No. 3 Florida State in a game that will be shown coast-to-coast (as announced Monday, it will be shown at 8 p.m. Nov. 2 on ABC).

And if Miami (6-0, 2-0 ACC) is to remain unbeaten heading into that game, it will need to train its eyes on Wake Forest, which comes to town Saturday (noon, ESPNU).

That may be all the more difficult after Tuesday, when the NCAA announces UM’s penalties related to the Nevin Shapiro scandal. (Read more about that here.)

Blocking out the noise will be tough for some players, human nature being what it is. Coach Al Golden believed his team was capable.

“We’re just trying to keep them internally driven and focused on a process and let that deliver,” Golden said. “When you have some guys that don’t trust that or think it’s about something or freelance and don’t do their jobs, there’s consequences and we all pay those consequences. That’s really the lesson now. Stay in the bunker. Don’t worry about the outside. What got you this far, stay with it.”

Wheeler, a senior, said he won’t have trouble staying focused on Wake Forest. He’ll do that “by just reminding myself it would really suck to lose this week, thinking about next week,” he said.

“We always have, every day, coaches reminding us. We remind each other. We just study our film, the game-plan, try not to listen to other people, students talk about ‘Oh, you guys ready for FSU?’ No – we don’t play them yet.”

* Kacy Rodgers II’s ankle is still swollen, four days after Miami’s win over North Carolina. Golden said he expects to know more Wednesday, but said the safety is “probable” for this week.

On Friday, Golden said the team was still evaluating whether Johnson, who took a knee to the head during the first quarter at UNC, suffered a low-grade concussion or if the blow triggered a migraine. The coach didn’t elaborate Monday, saying merely that Johnson was feeling well.

“Whether it was a migraine or a grade I concussion, either way, he was good all weekend and he was good today,” Golden said. “Again, it was non-contact, but he was good.”

* Stacy Coley and HerbWaters are the first two candidates to fill the stretch-the-field role vacated by PhillipDorsett, Golden said. MalcolmLewis and Scott will see increased time. Dorsett will miss four to six weeks with a torn MCL suffered against UNC.

* Offensive guard Danny Isidora (foot) will visit the doctor today, Golden said. Since he missed a lot of time and Miami’s offensive line is playing well, his return should be slow going.

* Offensive coordinator James Coley analyzed Stephen Morris’ interceptions: “The common thread is he’s out there competing and wants to make plays. Sometimes making a play, when something breaks down, is do the next best thing and get the ball out of your hands and throw it away and have your coach call another play.”

Asked if the ankle is still bothering Morris, Coley said: “He’s almost at 100 percent. Probably at 100 percent this week. There’s still some situations where it’s tender. Today he felt good. It’s one of those deals. It’s a combination of different things. Sometimes a guy runs a route that’s a little shorter, and you expect him to be there with a guy who’s 6-5, 300-pounds in your face. But, there are other times when you have to do the next best thing, and get out of Dodge.”

* Golden on having 12 turnovers in the last three games: “We can’t live like that. … The buck stops with me. I am responsible for the football, as the head coach. I either need to change some plays or change some players, but I have to get it right.”

* Wheeler’s brother, Jake, is a left tackle for Maryland, which lost 34-10 at Wake Forest last Saturday. Jared, like Jake did, has the task of going against the Deacons’ defensive line and nose tackle NikitaWhitlock. Despite his fullback size (5-10, 250), Whitlock has 45 tackles (13.5 for loss), seven sacks, seven quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and has also blocked a kick. Wheeler wouldn’t share trade secrets with the media, of course, but said the two spoke about Whitlock. “He told me he’s quick,” Wheeler said. “He’s fast. You’ve just got to get on him.”

* What’s on the iPads Miami players carry around? A lot of game film and game plans. Some players have music on there as a soundtrack for their study. But that’s it. “There’s not even an App Store on there,” Wheeler said. “You can’t download anything. … I think it’s a smart move. You don’t want guys playing Angry Birds in the meeting room.”